The Population of France in the XVIII century

AS HISTORY

PRELIMINARY LESSONS

TOPIC 1

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON (1787-1815)

Traditional and Modern Society – Differences and Similarities

Sources

1. Jean de La Bruyère, Characters (1^st ed., Les Caractères ou les moeurs de ce siècle, Paris, 1688)

“ON MAN, Fragment 128: There are certain wild animals, males and females, who are spread all across the land – black, pale, and burnt by the sun, attached to the soil, which they dig and turn with an undefeatable stubbornness. They seem to have an articulate voice, and, when stepping on their feet, they show a human face, and, in fact, are humans. At night they retire in their holes, where they live on black bread, water and roots…”

2. Demographic structure of the population of France (Source: Abbot d’Expilly, Dictionnaire géographique, historique et politique de la Gaulle et de la France. Paris, 1780):

1775